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Welcome to the most disorienting week on the fantasy calendar. Four games are already in the books with another full day of football ahead. Meanwhile, you’re stuck in a food stupor while every retailer in America bombs your inbox with all-caps offers. We thank you for opening this particular email, dear reader. All we’re attempting to sell you is fantasy intel.
📰 Lineup News
Thankful for returning starters
- Bucky Irving is finally back in Tampa’s backfield. His snaps could be restricted in his return from injury, but he’s still tough to sit. Irving is a playmaking machine who doesn’t require extreme volume. Baker Mayfield (left shoulder) is also looking good for the Arizona game, per coach Todd Bowles.
- Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart has cleared the concussion protocol, which puts him on track to face the Patriots on Monday night in one of the week’s spiciest matchups. Elsewhere, QBs C.J. Stroud (concussion) and Daniel Jones (fractured fibula) both practiced this week and appear good to go.
- RB Trey Benson (knee) made an appearance at practice this week, but he’s not yet ready to return from IR. He’s been ruled out for Arizona’s trip to Tampa Bay.
- As expected, New Orleans’ Alvin Kamara (knee/ankle) will be inactive this week against Miami, but there’s hope for Chris Olave (back) after he participated in yesterday’s practice session.
- WR Terry McLaurin is back in business after returning to practice this week. Washington will need any and all playmakers, considering the difficulty of the matchup against Denver. Jayden Daniels made it back to practice on a limited basis as well, but he’ll miss at least one more week.
- Aaron Rodgers (left wrist) and DK Metcalf (ankle) returned to full practices Thursday, so expect Pittsburgh’s passing game to be fully operational against Buffalo.
- J.J. McCarthy remains in the concussion protocol, so QB Max Brosmer will make his first NFL start this week in a near-impossible matchup at Seattle. It’s tempting to say things can’t get much worse for the Vikings’ passing game, but, in fact, things can always get worse.
- Omarion Hampton made his way back to practice this week, a positive development, but he won’t return from IR just yet. We get at least one more week of Kimani Vidal running behind the Chargers’ shaky offensive line.
Toolkit
Week 13 wisdom
📈 Week 13 rankings: Congrats to Cardinals QB Jacoby Brissett for achieving what must be the highest weekly ranking of his 10-year NFL career.
🧠 Critical fantasy insights: Saints RB Devin Neal and Jets receiver John Metchie are among the players assessed in this week’s data dive.
📝Key questions: Dalton Del Don considers the possibility of an end-of-season Kenneth Walker surge in Seattle.
📊 Market share report: Giants RB Tyrone Tracy, Texans WR Jayden Higgins and Cardinals WR Michael Wilson continue to ascend, and Michael Salfino has the details.
Powerless Chargers
The Bolts are too big to fail
We were given a one-week reprieve from worrying about the potential implosion of the Chargers during the team’s bye, but, unfortunately, we must now confront this situation head-on. The fantasy implications are significant.
When last we saw Justin Herbert, he was standing on the sideline watching Trey Lance direct L.A.’s offense in the final quarter of a non-competitive loss at Jacksonville. Herbert had passed for just 81 yards on 18 attempts. Keenan Allen’s 53 scrimmage yards led the team. The Chargers would lose 35-6, and, honestly, the final score didn’t adequately represent the one-sided nature of the game. A dreadful effort all around.
If another seven-win team had been involved in a disaster game like that, we might have dismissed the result as a hiccup — a one-time event not to be repeated. Just another West Coast team traveling east, taking a loss in the early window. Happens every week, right?
But the Chargers were already on our watch list because the wall protecting Herbert has crumbled and turned to dust. He’s been pressured on 41.4 percent of his dropbacks, one of the highest rates in the league. It’s been a rough watch.
An offensive line that entered the season without Pro Bowl tackle Rashawn Slater has now lost his counterpart, All-Pro Joe Alt. The combined impact of those injuries has been devastating. In the four games Alt was able to start and finish this year, the Chargers went 4-0 and Herbert threw nine TD passes with only two picks. In all other games, the team is 3-4 and Herbert’s touchdown-to-interception ratio is 10-7. His passer rating under pressure this season is 75.3. When kept clean, his rating is 104.3.
OC Greg Roman was asked this week about the plan for his leaky O-line, and he basically said everyone needs to be dramatically better. He then made reference to risk management, which conveyed a certain hopelessness:
To date, the Chargers have provided us with a top-10 fantasy quarterback, a breakout rookie tight end, a pair of playable young running backs and a trio of top-35 receivers. This team is officially too big to fail in fantasy. If the offense falls apart, tens of thousands of fantasy rosters may collapse along with it. After the Vegas game tomorrow, the Bolts still have matchups remaining with the Eagles, Chiefs, Texans and Broncos.
Ladd McConkey can probably survive the seasonal Chargering that may now be underway, but every other skill player attached to this team is exposed. Here are Jake Ciely’s two cents …
Jake’s Take
💬 I was hoping for a bit of a spark with an Omarion Hampton return, but we have to keep waiting. There is a middle ground between panic and ignoring the concern. So I think “warning” is the best way to put it — and that warning comes from the offensive line.
The Chargers have suffered too many significant injuries there not to have some concern, especially facing Raiders sack artist Maxx Crosby, Philly, K.C. and the improved Dallas defense rest-of-season. Again, it’s not enough to never play Herbert again, but where we were enjoying production from three receiving options — and maybe a fourth — each week, we’ll likely get two. And since it’s the Chargers, I’d only “trust” McConkey and Oronde Gadsden (because … well … tight end).
Last-Minute Moves
Rankings outliers for Week 13
Jake has ranked just about everything that walks or crawls (but, sadly, nothing that kicks). Historically, he’s as accurate as anyone in the fantasy racket. Let’s review a few names that landed in new and unusual places in Jake’s Week 13 ranks:
- Broncos RB RJ Harvey checks in at RB23 on Jake’s board, well behind his industry consensus rank (RB18) heading into a friendly matchup at Washington. Harvey is plenty explosive, but he’s coming off a quiet performance against Kansas City (50 yards on 14 touches).
- Justin Jefferson slips outside the top 20 at his position, presumably for the first time since 2020, his rookie season. Jake’s rank is obviously an indictment of Minnesota’s quarterback situation and not Jefferson himself.
- Brenton Strange lands among the viable starters at tight end following last week’s impressive return from injured reserve. Strange hauled in all five of his targets last week, gaining 93 yards. He and the Jags get a generous Tennessee pass defense this week.
- Jake buried cranberry sauce in the bottom tier of Thanksgiving side dishes, as if we needed further proof that he’s a coastal elite. An outrageous take, perhaps his worst yet.
Matchups to embrace 🤗 and avoid 😨
KC Joyner serves up a detailed review of the best and worst matchups each week. If you’re a hardcore fantasy player, KC’s analysis is required reading. Here are the Week 13 highlights and lowlights:
Fire ‘em up
- QB Bo Nix and WRs Troy Franklin and Courtland Sutton (at WAS), RBs TreVeyon Henderson (vs. NYG) and Kyren Williams (at CAR), TEs Harold Fannin (vs. SF) and Juwan Johnson (at MIA)
Exercise caution
- QB Brock Purdy and WR Jauan Jennings (at CLE), QB Daniel Jones and WR Alec Pierce (vs. HOU), RB Chris Rodriguez (vs. DEN), TE Brock Bowers (at LAC)
On the cut line 🔪
Fantasy analysts are forever telling you who to pick up, but we aren’t as generous with advice on drops. For the record, you have my permission to launch any of the following players:
- WR Rashid Shaheed has seen only eight total targets since joining the Seahawks, converting that modest usage into just 30 yards. It’s simply not enough work to justify holding him in leagues of almost any size. He has serious real-life value to Seattle, but he’s unplayable in fantasy.
- The Vikings’ Jordan Addison was shut out last week despite playing nearly every snap. He hasn’t topped 50 receiving yards in a month and a half, so he’s essentially a TD-or-bust receiver tied to a miserable quarterback situation. Addison cannot be started in 10- or 12-team leagues these days, which makes him an easy drop.
- Isiah Pacheco managed to return from his MCL sprain on Thanksgiving, but he certainly did not reclaim his old workload for the Chiefs. The running back was thoroughly out-snapped and out-touched by Kareem Hunt. Pacheco’s now a backup running back preparing to face a fierce Texans defense.
Sleeper of the week 💤
Theo Johnson gets a sneaky-good matchup on Monday night against a New England defense allowing the 10th-most fantasy points to opposing tight ends. Christian Gonzalez may lock up someone, but it won’t be Theo. He’s been a circle-of-trust player for Jaxson Dart all year, particularly in goal-to-go situations. Johnson has also reached double-digit fantasy points in three of his last four games and six of nine.
💬 From the Discord
If you haven’t yet joined our fantasy football Discord server, now’s the time. No reasonable question is ever refused. Here’s a dynasty dilemma from Thursday’s chat:
RealBenmoney: Think in dynasty I should give up my late 2026 first, Jordan Mason and a mid 2026 second for Javonte Williams and an early 2026 third?
Players over picks, always. Williams is a great pickup, the RB7 on the season as of this writing. We love to see a dynasty manager recognize an opportunity to go all-in on the current season. It’s so easy to become some sort of dreamy futurist, disregarding the title opportunity immediately ahead. If you have the shot at the championship, take it.
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